


a distance erased with the greatest of ease

by maharlika



Category: Thor - Fandom
Genre: Chair Sex, Fix-It, Frostpussy, Hurt/Comfort, Jotun Loki, M/M, PTSD, Past Relationship(s), Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Shared History, Single Sex Jotnar, Thor and Loki are not related, Vaginal Sex, exes getting back together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-04-24 12:32:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19173352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maharlika/pseuds/maharlika
Summary: Thor Odinson has been having a shit time. His planet is gone, his species is near-extinct, his best friend was murdered in front of him, and he failed to kill Thanos, the Mad Shithead.Then his ex-boyfriend shows up.Great.Post-IW, set at the start of Endgame. A fix-it of sorts.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by Elsa and Chrys. Thank you!

Stark and Rogers are having their argument in the conference room when Thor, hunched over and brooding darkly in the corner, looks up.

“There’s someone coming,” he says, voice hoarse from lack of use. He hasn’t had much cause to talk, these past few days.

The arguing gets louder, and Thor can tell Stark is about to do something reckless. It’s written in the lines of his too-slender body, whittled to the bone after twenty-two days in space. He shouldn’t even be out of bed, given what he’s just been through.

“Someone is coming,” Thor says, raising his voice. When that gets no response, Thor sighs and pushes himself to stand.

He lifts Stormbreaker a few inches off the ground, then strikes the base of her handle into the floor, hard. A _boom_ reverberates through the room, along with a sheet of lightning that sizzles across the walls.

In the silence that follows, Thor jerks his head over to the landing pad outside the glass walls.

As one, the assembled mortals move into action.

Rhodey walks over to protect Tony as Steve readies himself, looking like he’s ready to fight bare-handed. Rocket unhooks the blaster from his back. Nebula pulls out the knives from her boots. Natasha slides a gun out of its holster. The newcomer, Carol, gets into her stance as her whole body is set alight.

Bruce buries his face in his hands and sighs, deeply.

Thor gets it. He’s damn tired of aliens coming out of nowhere too.

Outside, the air is brightening and coalescing in shards of multi-colored lights, growing denser and denser, losing color until there’s one blinding flash that even Thor has to look away from.

He blinks, wearily raising Stormbreaker.

“Looks humanoid,” Natasha says, the first to recover.

“He’s—” Nebula squints.

“He’s blue,” Rocket says.

“Oh, fuck,” Thor said, a sense of dread running up his spine. Who else left in the universe could be capable of cross-realm travel without a ship? The Norns must truly despise Thor to bring _him_ here at this time.

Just as Thor is about the get a closer look, the figure disappears from the landing pad.

A ruckus starts up around him—

“Where’d he _go_!” Rocket hisses, hands fidgeting restlessly on his blaster.

—and Thor sits back down and thunks his head against the wall as Loki, blue and be-horned, shimmers into being in the middle of the room.

Everyone swivels to aim their weapons at the new arrival. Loki, ever reckless in the face of danger, looks straight at Thor and says, “Hello, lover.”

“Ex,” Thor bites out.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Tony says.

“This is the company you keep now, Odinson?” Loki says, surveying them dispassionately. He eyes linger on Rocket, who bares his teeth. Loki looks away, dismissive. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Excuse me—” Steve starts.

“What are you doing here, Loki?” Thor asks. He thunks his head against the wall again and stares at the ceiling.

“My father is dead and my realm is in chaos,” Loki says, in the calm voice that means he’s dangerously close to stabbing someone. “I looked through the weave to find the cause, and what did I find but you, in the middle of all this. The great and mighty Thor Odinson, always getting into far more trouble than he can handle.”

“Loki—” Thor sighs.

“How the hell do you know this guy, Thor?” Rhodey asks.

Loki laughs, cold. “You even let them talk to you like that. My, how far you’ve fallen.”

“Loki—” Thor tries again.

“It matters not,” Loki says. “I mean to put an end to Thanos and fix things. We can go as soon as I open a portal. Where are your warriors?”

Thor laughs, strangled.

“Thor,” Loki says, voice tight, “this is no time for hysterics.”

“They’re gone, Loki,” Thor says. “They’re all—” his voice breaks, his breath gone high and sharp. “They’re all gone. Oh gods, they’re all gone.”

Even the little left of the Aesir after Thanos’s attack had been artisans and laborers; the Titan claimed that his slaughter was to create balance, but he’d killed all the warriors before anyone else.

There’s silence in the room as everyone carefully doesn’t acknowledge Thor’s impending breakdown. They think he’s unhinged. He _feels_ unhinged.

Loki doesn’t look away, though some of his arrogance melts from his demeanor.

“We were told,” Loki says slowly, “that you managed to evacuate the population off the planet before Surtur destroyed it.”

“Your planet’s _gone_?” Tony asks, leaning back against his chair and fixing Thor with a wide-eyed look.

“Thanos met us in space,” Thor says, shutting his eyes tight. “He—” Thor grits his teeth. His chest feels painfully tight. “If you’re here to mock or gloat, please, just get it over with.”

“Look, this is a really touching reunion—” Rocket starts.

With a gesture, Loki vanishes Thor and himself from sight.

As the mortals panic around them, Loki flicks his fingers and all the noise cuts off into sudden silence.

Blessed silence. Thor hasn’t had quiet in what seems like a century. Even now, his head pounds, thoughts spilling, unwanted, into his consciousness. _Useless, wretched, worthless_. _Unworthy_. He wants his brain to shut up. He wants to rip the universe apart with his bare hands. He wants to stop _hurting_.

“Thor,” Loki says softly.

Thor shakes his head, his shoulders shuddering. The vice-grip sensation around his chest is getting tighter, and he almost loses his grip on his axe. He’s starting to lose the feeling in his fingers.

He’s so preoccupied with the sound of his own breathing, rattling unsteadily through his lungs, that he doesn’t realize Loki has moved so close until Loki folds down to his knees between Thor’s legs, gently prying Stormbreaker from Thor’s stiff fingers.

He closes his eyes, too tired to care about how weak he must seem to Loki. And Loki, gods, his realm must be in shambles too, his father _gone_ —Loki must despise him, even more than he already did.

“I’m sorry,” Loki whispers. Thor almost chokes. He hasn’t heard Loki utter an apology in all their centuries together. Loki presses his head to Thor’s chest and Thor feels like caving into him.

“I’m so sorry, dear heart.”

Thor hisses through gritted teeth, his chest heaving.

Loki sits up and reaches for Thor’s face, cradling it in his hands. “It’s all right, it’s just me. You can let it go, dear one. It’s all right.”

“Loki,” Thor sobs, finally, and it’s a dam breaking, a hurricane giving in to grief. Thor’s eyes alight with lightning, which ripples through his body.

“What do you need?” Loki asks, sliding a hand around the back of Thor’s head. “Tell me.”

“I need,” Thor breathes, heavy, “to find Thanos and rip his head off his shoulders.”

Loki’s cool, slender hand cups his cheek, drawing Thor to look at him. Their eyes meet. Gods, it’s been so long. Thor thought he’d lost everything he ever cared about, but he’s loved Loki for as long as he can remember, and Loki is _here, breathing, alive_.

“We will see it done,” Loki says, and there’s an undertone of menace in his voice. It used to make Thor shiver with pleasure. Now he aches with it. “I swear it.”

\--

Loki makes them reappear on one of the lower floors of the tower. Thor waves to one corner of the room, where he knows Stark has placed one of his ubiquitous cameras, just to let the others know he’s safe.

“Since when have you been keeping the company of mortals?” Loki asks, gingerly seating himself on a stool at the kitchen island.

Thor can feel Loki’s eyes follow him as he goes to the fridge and rummages around for something to drink.

He keeps his back turned as he answers, “I, ah. Remember when rogue Jotnar snuck into Asgard on the day of my coronation? And I blamed you and almost started an inter-realm incident—”

“Ah,” Loki says, mouth twitching into a small smile. “I do seem to recall something of the sort.”

“Father banished me to Midgard,” Thor says. He straightens up with two cans of ginger ale, tossing one to Loki, who gracefully catches it in his hand.

“Did he?” Loki asks, not sounding surprised at all. “How barbaric. My father would never.”

Thor snorts, popping his drink open and taking a long chug. Laufey has always been inordinately fond of his youngest son. Loki could have murdered his older brothers and Laufey would have kissed his forehead and laid out a path of roses for him towards the throne. But Loki never wanted Jotunheim’s throne—and he hadn’t needed it, not when he and Thor had been together.

“He did threaten to marry me off, at some point,” Loki sighs.

Thor chokes on his drink, and Loki laughs.

“Did he—are you—” Gods, he’d never even considered. Surely they would have had word if Loki had ever gotten married, if he’d had children.

“I’m not, no,” Loki says, his mouth is curved into a smug smile. It dissolves when he thumbs at his drink, confused by the pop-tab.

“Let me,” Thor says, before Loki can solve the problem with his favored method—stabbing—and opens the drink for him, wrapping his hand around Loki’s to do so. If Thor lingers for a moment too long, Loki doesn’t seem to notice.

“Thank you,” Loki says. He takes a sip and makes a face, peering at the label on the can.

“This is the most disgusting ale I’ve ever had,” he says.

“It’s not—you get used to it,” Thor says.

Loki’s fingers drum on the can and he nods to Stormbreaker, lying on the counter.

“That’s new,” he says.

“Endured the force of a dying star to forge it,” Thor says.

“Very dramatic,” Loki says. “Does it do anything?”

“Cuts people. Brings down lightning. Summons the Bifrost, too,” Thor says.

“Nothing special, then,” Loki says, dry. “What happened to your hammer?”

“My sister destroyed it,” Thor says.

“Oh,” Loki says, calculating. His face screws with displeasure when he reaches a conclusion. “Odin did always like his secrets. And your eye?”

“Her fault too,” Thor says. “Undead blade. Couldn’t salvage it.”

“And you didn’t think to wear an eyepatch?” A hint of a smirk there.

“I did, for a bit, but it threw off my depth perception. Couldn’t fight like that.”

Loki nods, though he stares thoughtfully at Thor’s face for a moment before he asks, “And your sister, she destroyed Asgard?”

“I did,” Thor says. “Or she would have taken over the rest of the realms.” He has to raise a hand, now shaking again, to rub at his eyes. The mechanical one producers tears just like the real one.

“You’ve changed,” Loki says, not unkindly.

“I’ve had to,” Thor says.

Loki nods again, absently. His fingers drum against the counter, and he opens his mouth to say more, but they’re both distracted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

Thor turns away from Loki to see the Steve at the doorway.

Steve’s gaze shifts from Thor to Loki, then back to Thor.

“We’ve located Thanos,” he says.

“Not as incompetent as I expected,” Loki says, leaving his drink on the counter as he hops off the stool.

“Let’s get this done,” Thor says, wreathing himself in lightning and emerging in his armor. He grabs Stormbreaker from the counter.

Before he can follow the Avengers out, Loki grabs his elbow.

“Thor—”

“It’s okay, Loki,” Thor says.

Loki bites his lip, then says, “I _did_ send the Jotnar into Asgard on the day of your coronation.”

“I know,” Thor says, huffing out a laugh. “You’re not as cunning or as malicious as you think you are.”

“Only you could say that,” Loki says. “I’m a menace to anyone else.” And then, “There hasn’t been. Anyone else, I mean. Not in any serious capacity. Not since you. And I know that’s piss-poor consolation after everything you’ve been through but if this fight with Thanos doesn’t turn out well then I. I suppose I just wanted you to know.”

Thor nods, slowly. Loki turns around abruptly, his long hair fanning out behind him.

“Let’s go,” Loki says, and walks away briskly.

Thor smiles to himself, and follows.

\--

“Who’s never travelled in space before?” Rocket asks.

As the humans raise their hands, Thor reaches over and helps Loki click his seatbelt into place.

He expects a biting response, but Loki only thanks Thor quietly.

\--

It’s almost too simple, this time.

Loki slices Thanos’ arm off with a dagger, then pierces him in place with a dozen, large shards of ice.

Thanos, to Thor’s dark satisfaction, screams until he’s beheaded.

Carol tears Thanos’s still-twitching arm off the gauntlet and puts it on.

She snaps her fingers.

\--

They walk out into The Garden, still as eerily empty as it was before Carol’s snap restored the universe. It doesn’t seem real, not until Steve’s comms come to life and Tony is on the other side, shouting frantically. He sounds like he might be crying.

Of all the things Thor thought he would feel after fixing the mess Thanos made, it wasn’t this deep, abiding emptiness. His shoulders feel heavy with some unfathomable weight.

The Avengers pile into the ship to return to Earth. Before he leaves, Steve turns to Loki and says, “Hey, you were good help back there. If you ever feel inclined, the Avengers could use someone like you.”

It’s rare to see Loki caught off-guard, but this does the trick. Thor savors the way his eyes widen with shock, the gentle purple flush of his cheeks.

“I’ll...consider it,” Loki says.

“Thor?” Steve asks, as Thor hangs back.

He raises Stormbreaker. “I can find my way back. I have a trip to make to Norway.” Where, Thor hopes, all the survivors of Thanos’s attack have made it through space to the cliff that he imagines will be their new home.

“Loki?” Steve asks.

“I have my own means, Captain,” Loki says.

“Don’t be strangers,” Steve says, and starts up the ramp.

“He has a good ass,” Loki murmurs as Thor steps into place behind him.

“Oh, believe me, I’ve noticed,” Thor says. “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

“Perish the thought,” Loki says. He turns to Thor, eyes bright and shining with mirth, but those fade when he sees Thor’s face.

“For a man who just saved the universe, you look awfully glum,” Loki says.

Thor sighs and shrugs. “Just tired, I suppose. Saved the universe but now I have to take care of it too. What’s left of Asgard probably needs a king. Work never ends.”

“This is why I never wanted to rule,” Loki says, sympathetic.

“Never?” Thor says, and his mouth twitches into a grin. “Because I seem to recall some very detailed plans for your reign as King-Consort of—”

“It’s all in the past,” Loki interrupts. “I’m not interested anymore, unfortunately.”

“And most of Asgard is gone, in any case,” Thor says. It comes out too easy, but the words taste like ash in his mouth.

“Thor,” Loki sighs. “That’s not why I—”

“Should probably go make sure I don’t lose any more of it,” Thor continues.

“Yes,” Loki says. “And I should see to my own realm.”

“Well, I suppose this is goodbye,” Thor says, heaving Stormbreaker onto his shoulder.

“Wait,” Loki says, then reaches out to lay a hand on Thor’s arm. “I—can you take me with you? I’d like to see it. What’s left of Asgard.”

Thor raises an eyebrow.

“It was my home, too, Thor,” Loki says, avoiding Thor’s gaze. “For a long time. I’d like to pay my respects.”

“Of course,” Thor says, emotion swelling in his chest.

“And I do so enjoy Bifrost travel,” Loki says, giving Thor a wry glance.

“You’ll enjoy this one even more,” Thor says. “Very loud and flashy, and much less stable than the Observatory.”

“Excellent,” Loki says, dry as a Svartalfheim desert. “Do I have to hold your—”

The rest of the question is drowned out by the roar of the Bifrost, the two of them dissolving into light.

\--

Loki doesn’t stay. Thor hadn’t expected him to, but it still aches. When they land on New Asgard, Thor watches from a short distance as Loki kneels in the grass and offers a prayer.

From his cupped palms emerges a ball of light, which expands as it floats upwards and disperses into a shower of seidr over the area.

Thor inhales and smells cold, fresh snow. A Jotun blessing.

“Asgard will always be my home,” Loki says, getting to his feet. “As Jotunheim will always be yours, Thor.”

“Your bearer did threaten to cut my head off last we met,” Thor says.

“Oh, he’s fine,” Loki says, waving a hand. “He misses you.”

“I’m sure he does,” Thor says. They share a look, then burst into laughter.

“What do you plan to do now?” Loki asks, when he’s caught his breath. He turns his gaze to the far field beyond the slope of the cliff. In the distance, Thor thinks he spots Valkyrie’s white armor milling among whoever is left of his people. “And where did you find the Valkyrie?”

“She found me,” Thor says. “It’s a long story. As for my plans, I think I could use a drink and a nap. And then I suppose I have to be king.”

“You’re going to be a good king,” Loki tells him.

Thor makes a noise of derision. “I know you’re in the business of lies, Loki, but that was a bad one, even for you.”

“I can be sincere!” Loki protests.

Thor laughs, and it comes out surprisingly bitter.

“A king without a realm or a throne,” Thor sighs.

“You know as well as I that those are not what makes a king,” Loki says gently.

“When did we grow up?” Thor says, smiling weakly.

Loki shakes his head with a smile, then leans in and kisses Thor’s cheek, lingering close.

Thor could turn his face and kiss Loki properly, but he doesn’t. Knows it’s not his place to, not anymore. Whatever he and Loki used to be, they are different now. Loki is a prince of a prosperous realm, and Thor has nothing to offer him.

“It was good to see you again, truly,” Loki says, when Thor makes no other move. Behind him, a portal opens, and through it, Thor can see the ice of Jotunheim.

“Send a raven,” Thor calls out, as Loki goes.

Loki’s hand waves from the portal as his body disappears into the white landscape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It was all very romantic,” Loki drawls. “A centuries-long war, then Thor was sent to my realm to play diplomat. He wasn’t very good at it.” 
> 
> Thor grunts.
> 
> “He was good at other things, though, I bet,” Scott says with a large smile, waggling his eyebrows.
> 
> “Oh, quite,” Loki in a low murmur that makes Thor flush despite himself.
> 
> “Why’d you break up, though?” Scott asks, oblivious. He takes another gulp of his drink and smiles emptily.
> 
> “Why did we, Loki?” Thor finds it in him to ask.

The next time Thor sees Loki is on TV. 

It’s nighttime, past dinner, and he’s having a round of drinks in the mixed company of humans, Aesir, and Sakaarians in a local bar that Brunnhilde has somehow gained co-ownership of. She’s very resourceful.

There’s a murmur that goes through the crowd and the barkeep changes the channel to the News. It’s the afternoon in New York, and the city seems to be swarmed by bands of aliens with no discernible similarities. Raiders, Thor guesses. Pirates. Now that Midgard has brought itself into the center stage of intergalactic affairs, they’re bound to get all sorts of visitors, friendly and not. 

He’s about to get up and call for Stormbreaker outside—he’s been explicitly forbidden from calling her indoors—when Brunnhilde slams down a pint in front of him and says, “I think they’ve got a handle on it, Majesty.”

Indeed, the screen shows the various new members of the Avengers easily turning the tide against their would-be invaders. 

“They have a man that turns into a giant, now,” Brunnhilde says, taking a long chug of her beer. 

“He can’t fly, though,” Thor grumbles, put out. He’s itching to go fight, but Brunnhilde pins him down with a look. 

Thor takes a gulp of his beer. He has people to look after now, people to lead. Children look up to him. He’s not supposed to be reckless. 

And then, from the corner of the screen, someone comes riding into the battle on a wave of ice. 

Thor chokes on his beer. 

“Is that—?” Brunnhilde squints, then laughs incredulously. “Where did they find a Jotun?”

It’s not just any Jotun, of course. It’s Loki, Thor’s ex-lover. His ex-boyfriend, as the Midgardians would say. 

He winces as Loki throws himself atop one of the command ships, a speck of blue against gruesome grey machinery. 

“No idea,” Thor mumbles, and takes another gulp of his beer. 

Loki has ever been a ruthlessly competent warrior, and it shows even in the shaky footage on the primitive Midgardian sceen. He takes down a command ship on his own, cuts through his enemies like butter. It's a beautiful spectacle, and it makes something in Thor ache, dangerously. 

He drinks to soothe it.

The Avengers—of which Loki is now apparently a part—win their battle readily.

Thor is taken home, drunk, leaning upon Korg’s crumbly shoulder, and passes out in the living room. 

\--

Tony throws a party, as he is wont to do. The world has been saved multiple times over and amends have been made with old friends. Those are worth celebrating. And it’s better to get the celebrations in before the world governments piece themselves together and break them all up again, Thor supposes.

The party is in full swing by the time Thor arrives with Brunnhilde, who heads straight for the bar and tells Thor not to worry about getting her back home tonight. Thor leaves her to it. 

Thor finds himself sitting with T’challa, the King of Wakanda, a very sensible man who offers to support Thor in the negotiations for his people. They drink, they make merry, they make their ancestors proud. People flock to them, coming and going. At one point, Thor meets Steve’s partner, a man with dark hair and sad eyes. Loki would like him, Thor thinks.

Thor is deep in his cups when he decides to wander off in search of fresh air. It is wonderful to be in the company of those who have fought to save the universe, but all the joyful cheer around him only serves to remind him of how much he has lost. He steps out into one of the tower’s balconies, breathing in deeply.

The breath gets caught in his throat. Someone is already there.

“You’re missing the party,” Loki says, not turning around. 

“So are you,” Thor says, surprised at how steady his voice is. “Did you take up Steve’s invitation, then?”

“In a way,” Loki says, turning to look at Thor. His hair is drawn into a pile on top of his head, and he’s wearing a silk green button-down. His red eyes glitter as they study Thor from top to bottom, slowly. Deliberately.

Before Thor can think twice about it, he reaches out and thumbs open the top button of Loki’s shirt.

“It looks better like this,” Thor says, averting his eyes.

“Thank you. I’m far from an expert on Midgardian fashion,” Loki says, dry.

“You can always come to me for advice,” Thor says lightly. Already, he feels too sober.

“Just advice?” Loki says. 

“Just advice,” Thor says.

Loki purses his lips.

“I’ll get you a drink,” Thor says, and escapes before Loki can stop him.

\--

“You’re acting strange,” Loki says, sliding into place next to Thor at the bar.

“I’m acting perfectly fine,” Thor says. He hands Loki some strange blue concoction.

Loki doesn’t relent, however, and follows Thor back to the couch in the center of the room. With the party winding down, there are about a dozen people sitting around in various states of inebriation. It reminds Thor of that night when Ultron came to life. It feels like a century ago.

Loki strikes up a conversation with Natasha and Thor sips at his whiskey and tries not to catalogue every time Loki brushes against him. He’s always gesticulated like this when he tells a story, but the hand on Thor’s thigh is perhaps unnecessary.

Eventually, the conversation around turns, as it inevitably does in these sorts of things, to gossip.

“So,” Scott starts, surprisingly bright-eyed despite the amount of drink Thor has seen him imbibe. Thor has never met him before this night, but he can tell the man lacks a filter. True enough, the next words to come out of his mouth are, “How’s Jane, Thor?” He gives a wobbly, awkward little smile, entirely sincere.

Beside him, he feels Loki stiffen. It would be imperceptible if not for the way Loki is pressed flush against his side, a cool brand along Thor’s alcohol-warmed skin.

“We broke up,” Thor says, keenly aware of how the conversation has quieted down to almost nothing. Of how Loki is very obviously not looking at him, his hand limp on Thor’s thigh.

“Hey, I feel ya,” Scott says, raising both his hands, the contents of his glass sloshing. “My wife and I broke up too, man. It was a rough time. I was in prison, and then I was out of it, and then I was in prison again, and then I almost got stuck in the Quantum Realm—”

“Jane?” Loki asks lightly.

Before Thor can say anything, Scott says, “Yeah, Jane Foster! Super smart—physicist, right? Won the Nobel too or something, but Hank’s got a Nobel and he’s a bit of a jerk, so that’s not really an indication—”

Something in Loki’s face must make Scott falter, because he loses his stride and peters off into a mumble about how interesting Loki’s blue skin is. 

“I see,” Loki says. “And how long were you, ah, involved, Thor?”

Thor takes a sip from his glass and swallows, hard. 

“Ah,” he says. “Jane, JaneJaneJane, ah, we, it was...three years, maybe?” he squints up at the ceiling and takes another sip.

“I see,” Loki says, hard as ice. His hand slips from Thor’s thigh. He shifts, and Thor is pre-emptively relieved that Loki’s getting up—but Loki only shifts to face Scott properly, then leans back against the couch, looking thoughtful.

“Thor and I were together for a while too,” he says, entirely too casual.

Thor resists the urge to close his eyes and rub his suddenly-aching temples.

To his credit, Scott seems unfazed. He grins wide, turning from Thor to Loki and back. 

“That’s amazing! Alien love story, wow, Cassie would love to hear this,” Scott says.

“It was all very romantic,” Loki drawls. “A centuries-long war, then Thor was sent to my realm to play diplomat. He wasn’t very good at it.” 

Thor grunts.

“He was good at other things, though, I bet,” Scott says with a large smile, waggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, quite,” Loki in a low murmur that makes Thor flush despite himself.

“Why’d you break up, though?” Scott asks, oblivious. He takes another gulp of his drink and smiles emptily.

“Why did we, Loki?” Thor finds it in him to ask. 

“Well,” Loki says, “Thor was an arrogant, insufferable asshole.”

“And Loki was a scheming, backstabbing bastard,” Thor replies. 

“And there was that incident with the ambassador from Niflheim,” Loki says, catching Thor’s eye with an amused grin.

Thor snorts, his tension unspooling from him. “Don’t start. I seem to recall that time with the princes from Alfheim—”

“I had nothing to do with that,” Loki sniffs.

“And I suppose you had nothing to do with the trolls from Muspelheim,” Thor says. “Or that time with Freyja and Thrym—”

“You were too young,” Scott says, nodding sagely. 

Thor blinks. He’d forgotten the man was there.

“Young love, I get it,” Scott continues. “It’s, it’s volatile. Reckless.” He nods, then keeps nodding until he dozes off in his chair.

“All in the past now,” Thor says, gruff.

“All in the past,” Loki repeats. He clears his throat, then rises from the couch. 

“I should be taking my leave,” Loki says, pointedly, at Thor. 

Thor stiffens, feeling a dull sense of dread crawl up his spine. 

He gets up and follows Loki anyway.

\--

“I know you don’t need to be outside to make a portal,” Thor says, as he and Loki step out into the tower’s landing pad.

“And here I was thinking you were going to offer me Stormbreaker’s services,” Loki says. 

“I’m not dressed for Jotunheim,” Thor says.

Loki reaches out to finger Thor’s red coat. “I can fix that very easily,” he says, looking at Thor from under his lashes. 

Thor puts his hand atop Loki’s and gently pulls it away. 

Loki’s gaze turns sharp, his mouth pressing into a thin line. 

“I see,” he says. “I hope she was good to you, your Midgardian scientist. You can find her again now, after the world’s been put to rights.”

“Loki,” Thor sighs. 

“Don’t,” Loki bites out. He releases a shaky breath. “I’m a fool for even coming here.”

“What did you think would happen?” Thor asks. “Did you think we would fall into bed together again, after all these years? Did you want me to fall to my knees for your affections? Promise you everything I have? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, Loki, but I don’t have much by way of—of fucking anything, these days. No gold, no kingdom, no throne—”

“I never wanted your damned THRONE,” Loki shouts, the force of it making Thor step backwards.

“Well,” Thor says, after a moment. “Good. Because I don’t have one to offer. Unless you count the armchair Korg insists on taking anyway.”

Loki is staring at Thor with a perplexed look. 

“He’s a Kronan,” Thor says, helpfully. “Big pile of rocks, bit crumbly. Bit heavy for the chair, but he likes it.”

“You’re a fool,” Loki says, in a tone of realization.

Thor rubs a hand over his face. “Yes, I’ve heard. I really shouldn’t have—I’m sorry if I made you think that I—”

“Thor,” Loki cuts in, placing a hand on Thor’s cheek. “If you truly don’t want this, then tell me plain. But if you continue to refuse me out of some misguided notion that you, Thor Odinson, are somehow unworthy of me—a notion so impossibly stupid that it’s ridiculous even for you—then I will stab you until you come to your senses.”

“I don’t see how that’s—”

Loki kisses him.

Thor kisses him back, helpless. It is easy to deny himself, but denying Loki is near impossible. Still, the protests are on the tip of Thor’s tongue, and as soon as Loki gives him an inch, he’ll speak them, explain why they shouldn’t do this—why Thor can’t shackle Loki with him—

But through the blood rushing in his ears and the incessant voice telling him this is wrong, he hears a familiar, rumbling noise.

“Oh, Norns,” he murmurs faintly, as Loki nuzzles into his neck, purring with sweet satisfaction. It’s a distinctly Jotun trait, the purring. The first time Thor had ever heard it, Loki had been kneeling on the floor, mouth full of Thor’s cock. He’d come a moment later. 

He lays a hand on the small of Loki’s back—he’s _vibrating_ —and Loki arches up against Thor, eyelids fluttering, purring louder, and all of Thor’s resolve disintegrates. 

He tugs Loki close, pressing their chests together. 

“Hold on,” he murmurs, tightening his hold around Loki.

“So forward,” Loki says, looking up at Thor with a smug smile on his face. “Absolutely brutish, no finesse at all—”

Thor’s answering laugh is lost in the roar of the Bifrost as it comes to life, bearing them home to Asgard.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So this is the famed throne,” Loki says, running a hand along the back of the red armchair that sits in Thor’s living room. His other hand remains clutched in Thor’s.
> 
> Thor laughs, sitting himself on the chair and dragging Loki to stand between his legs.
> 
> “How do I look?” he asks, grinning up at Loki.
> 
> “Like a king,” Loki says, simply.

“So this is the famed throne,” Loki says, running a hand along the back of the red armchair that sits in Thor’s living room. His other hand remains clutched in Thor’s. 

Thor laughs, sitting himself on the chair and dragging Loki to stand between his legs.

“How do I look?” he asks, grinning up at Loki.

“Like a king,” Loki says, simply. 

Thor’s breath catches and he presses his face to Loki’s stomach, needing a moment to steady himself. Loki’s hands come to rest on his head, fingers moving through Thor’s short hair like a breeze through tall grass, calming him.

“Are you sure,” Thor murmurs against Loki’s shirt, “are you sure you want...that I’m…”

“Thor,” Loki says, “if you continue to imply that I only ever wanted you because of your wealth, position, and power, I’m going to start taking offense. Now, sit up straight and let me get on your lap.”

Thor leans back and watches Loki clamber on top of him, maneuvering his limbs until he’s seated with his legs hugging Thor’s thighs on either side, and his ass is directly on top of Thor’s crotch.

“ _Mm_ , perfect,” Loki hums, leaning in to kiss Thor again, arms going around Thor’s neck. 

“Norns,” Thor groans, tilting his head to give Loki better access to his neck. “Why did we ever stop doing this?”

“Something about you being insufferable and me being a bastard,” Loki mumbles, then bites down on Thor’s shoulder, hard. 

Thor responds by taking hold of Loki’s hips and grinding his crotch up into Loki’s. 

“We’re older now,” Thor pants, “wiser. This is an extremely wise decision.” He leans up to kiss Loki again, his other hand palming Loki’s ass and squeezing.

“Wisest decision we’ve ever made,” Loki agrees, breathing hard against Thor’s lips. 

Thor’s hands go up to the back of Loki’s head and he snaps the string that’s just barely holding Loki’s hair together. Loki’s long hair cascades down his back in a smooth wave, and Thor can’t help but plunge his fingers into the stream of it, silky and cool to the touch. 

He tugs, experimenting, re-learning, and Loki melts into him with a shocked whimper that shatters Thor’s mind thoroughly. 

Not much more is said for a few long moments as they wrap themselves around each other and lose themselves to kissing. It’s making Thor lightheaded, the weight of Loki in his lap, in his arms, his soft lips and warm mouth, so familiar and so beloved. 

It feels, inexplicably, like coming upon that last stretch of road leading home.

It feels, also, like he’s going to come if Loki keeps grinding down on his cock in those slow, sensual circles, purring away like a well-tuned riding skiff. 

“We can’t fuck on this chair,” Thor says in a rare moment of clarity in which Loki isn’t kissing him. Loki instead has his attention focused on Thor’s neck, where he must be painting the night sky in bruises on Thor’s skin.

“Oh, there’s an idea,” Loki says, emerging to grin at Thor mischievously. “Remember how we used to joke about fucking on Asgard’s throne?”

“They were just _jokes_ —”

“Well,” Loki continues, grinding down at an angle that makes Thor throw his head back, gasping, “this is much comfier than Hlidskjalf, and I’m positively _aching_ to get your cock in me.” 

He flutters his eyelashes at Thor. “I just don’t think I’ll make it to the bedroom,” he sighs dramatically.

“I can never let Korg sit in this again,” Thor says, strained. “We’ll have to burn it.” Despite himself, the thought of fucking Loki here, in the middle of his living room, with the lights on and the windows creaked open to let in a breeze, makes him feel wild with lust. His cock aches to be inside Loki, but most of all it just _aches_. He needs to get it out of his pants before his circulation cuts off. 

“We can just move it to your bedroom, afterwards,” Loki says, a sly smile on his face. He knows he’s won. 

“You’re an absolute menace,” Thor groans. “Please take my pants off before my cock detaches from my body.”

“Yes, dear,” Loki says, and with a wave of his hand, their clothes dissolve in a shimmer of green light.

“ _Oh, Norns_ ,” Thor hisses through his teeth as the folds of Loki’s very wet cunt slide against his over-warm cock. 

“ _Gods_ ,” Loki gasps, and suddenly his cool blue skin is draped against Thor’s front, nothing at all between their skin, the head of Thor’s cock nudging against the lips of Loki’s opening. Their arms wrap around each other, hands hungrily roving to feel skin, to map out all the places that used to be so familiar. They find landmarks and old, well-trodden paths, greeting each other’s bodies with a profound sense of relief. 

Thor rubs his fingers against the ridges on Loki’s skin, the raised kin-lines that mark his heritage. Loki’s skin is a sea that he has circumnavigated a thousand times over, but each journey is no less important than the last. And Thor means to study the topography of Loki’s body thoroughly, again, when they have time. 

For now, though, Thor hauls Loki in for a bruising kiss, biting at his lips and shivering with satisfaction as Loki shudders in his lap. Thor can feel him _leaking_.

“You’re so wet,” Thor laughs, swelling with delight, rubbing his beard against Loki’s neck. 

Loki says nothing, only spreads his legs wider and pants loudly, hands scrabbling at Thor’s back and tugging, sharp and insistent, at his hair. 

Thor keeps a hand around Loki’s waist and another on his hip, making sure he doesn’t tip over as he drags his mouth down Loki’s neck, licking at his collarbone and then lower. He takes one of Loki’s nipples, peaking in the cold and flushed the prettiest, darkest shade of purple, between his teeth.

The effect is nothing less than magic: Loki cries out, wailing, and Thor lifts him up and lets him sink down onto his cock as he flicks the point of his tongue insistently against that delectable bud. 

“ _Thor_ ,” Loki whimpers, sounding wrecked, clinging to Thor. Thor thinks he can feel Loki’s overwhelmed tears against his shoulder as he sinks down, Thor’s cock cleaving deeper into him, and then deeper still. Loki’s cock, thick and heavy, twitches between them, leaving slick against their bellies. 

When they’re joined as far as they are able, they pause, resting, finding their bearings. Thor moans to feel Loki’s exquisite, wet heat pulsing around his cock. He keeps one arm around Loki’s waist while the other moves in slow strokes, gently scratching Loki’s back the way Thor’s knows he likes. 

It sets Loki off into another round of purring, cunt clenching restlessly around Thor’s cock as he arches his back into Thor’s nails. 

“Could stay here forever,” Loki mumbles, setting his teeth to Thor’s shoulder and chewing lazily. “Gods, I’ve always loved your cock.” His eyelids flutter and he moans softly, grinding down on Thor.

“Want to keep you here forever, always on my cock where you belong,” Thor mumbles, only half-aware of what he’s saying. He sets his hands on Loki’s waist and guides him into riding Thor in a steady rhythm. Loki clutches at Thor and breathes heavily against his face, biting at his mouth as Thor’s cock drives into him. It’s intoxicating, being able to drive Loki to speechlessness. Their pleasures echo each other, Thor’s cock punching delicious noises out of Loki while Loki’s cunt milks filth from Thor’s mouth. 

“This is all you need, isn’t it,” Thor growls, taking hold of Loki’s ass and pounding up into him. “No gold, no kingdom, no realm, just a cock in your tight little cunt and you’re happy.” 

“You absolute fool,” Loki chokes out, half-delirious with pleasure, “I can’t believe you’re just realizing that.”

Loki comes the first time just riding Thor, their foreheads pressed together and their mouths too slack with pleasure to do anything but brush against each other. 

Thor spreads his legs and keeps his feet planted on the floor, trying not to jerk his hips into Loki’s as he comes down from his orgasm. 

When Loki withdraws from Thor’s cock, Thor grits his teeth against the cold air. 

He’s too dazed, too lost in his haze of desperation, to realize what Loki’s doing until he’s turned around, his back to Thor, and is sitting back down on Thor’s cock. 

Thor’s hands immediately hook under Loki’s knees, driving Loki down deep onto his cock and plastering his chest to Loki’s back. 

Loki laughs breathlessly, then moans as Thor’s hand wraps around his cock, still hard and leaking. 

“Oh, this second one isn’t going to take long at all…” Loki gasps, hands gripping Thor’s arms tight. 

“ _Nnngh_ ,” Thor responds eloquently, face pressed against the crook of Loki’s neck. 

“Come on, darling, fuck me like the beast I know you are,” Loki croons, reaching around to scratch at Thor’s scalp.

Thor needs no other encouragement; he snaps his hips up into Loki’s sopping cunt, blind with lust, feeling feral from it. And Loki, he takes it, delights in it, in Thor’s raw strength and the sparks of lightning that sizzle where Thor’s skin touches his. 

They come within seconds of each other, Loki tipping over the edge first, the spasms of his cunt sending Thor falling after him, spilling deep inside. 

Thor leans heavily against the chair, taking Loki with him as they catch their breaths. It feels good just to have Loki in his arms, Loki’s skin against his, his cock nestled in Loki’s warmth.

They doze, lazy, until Loki finds the wherewithal to clean themselves of spend with a wave of his hand. Then he wriggles around in Thor’s lap, slightly sticky with dried sweat, until they’re facing each other again. 

“Hello,” Loki says, lazy and smug, snuggling up against Thor. Thor presses a kiss to the tips of his horns, then the space between them, cuddling Loki up against his chest. 

“So,” Thor says, “just to recap. No throne, no power, no kingdom. Asgard’s population is about a thousand people. We don’t really even own our land; I’m still trying to figure it out—”

“Thor,” Loki says, sleepily dragging a hand to cover Thor’s mouth, “shut up.

Thor sucks a few of Loki’s fingers into his mouth and chews on them thoughtfully.

“You really don’t care,” Thor says, stroking Loki’s side. 

“Never did,” Loki says, eyes still closed. “Couldn’t let you think I liked you just for you, though.”

“Of course,” Thor says, huffing out a laugh. He hauls Loki into his arms and stands up. Loki jerks, his horns scratching Thor’s cheeks, but he holds on and curls in close.

“Are you staying the night?” Thor asks when they’re at the threshold of his bedroom. 

Loki cracks his eyes open and glares sleepily at Thor. He looks like a very disgruntled kitten, and Thor has to lean down and kiss him, which Loki accepts with a grumble. 

“Guess that’s a yes,” Thor says. 

He gets them both tucked into bed, Loki clinging to him all the while. He’s reminded of a hundred other nights like this one, except that Loki had never let Thor see this side of him, choosing instead to stumble into bed on unsteady legs rather than let Thor carry him. It’s a pleasant, if confusing, surprise.

Thor is tracing lines down Loki’s back, caged by his long limbs, trying to fall asleep but too wound up to do so. Then, Loki speaks, startling Thor.

“You were the first one I thought of, you know,” Loki murmurs, his voice loud in the darkness of the room. “When the snap happened. I saw my father turn into dust before me and the only thing I could feel was fear that you had disappeared too.”

Thor feels his breath catch in his throat, not because he’d felt the same, but because he hadn’t. 

He hadn’t thought about Loki, hadn’t spared him a thought at all. 

When he confesses as much, more hesitant than he’s ever been in his life, Loki only laughs.

“Of course not,” Loki murmurs against Thor’s shoulder. “Hey, no, not like that. You lost everything, Thor. You were grieving. I don’t blame you.” 

He strokes Thor’s face and turns it towards him. 

“I don’t blame you for thinking you’d lost everything,” he says. “I’m here to remind you that you haven’t.”

“Stay,” Thor says, exhausted, curling into Loki. “Stay here.”

“I will,” Loki says. “I’m here.”

\--

Thor wakes up, as he does these days, to the crow of the rooster that refuses to leave its roost on his roof. He can’t have slept more than four hours, but he feels wide-eyed and alert as soon as he opens his eyes. 

Beside him, Loki is visible only as a set of horns peeking out from under the blanket. Even that is a pleasant surprise—Loki had always woken up before Thor, no matter now late they’d fallen into bed. 

The rooster crows again, and Loki twitches, burrowing deeper into bed until only the very tips of his horns poking out.

 _Norns, he’s adorable_ , Thor thinks, resisting the urge to put his mouth on those little nubs. He feels effusive, giddy, full of sunshine because of last night. Because of the slow, quiet dawn, and the reality of Loki in his bed, unguarded in his sleep. 

When the rooster crows one more time, Loki makes a noise of frustration and the _cock-a-doodle-doo_ cuts off midway in an undignified squawk.

Loki’s head pops up from under the blanket to glare at Thor blearily. 

“What did you do to my rooster?” Thor asks, giving into the urge to kiss Loki’s horns. He gathers Loki up into his arms for good measure, reaching under the blankets to run his hands along cool skin. 

“He lived a good life,” Loki says ominously, but doesn’t try to pry himself from Thor’s hold, though he does start squawking like a rooster when Thor tries to leave the bed.

“What are you _doing_ ,” Loki hisses. His hands have Thor’s arms in a death-grip.

“It’s the morning,” Thor says, pressing an apologetic kiss to Loki’s forehead. “I have work to do.”

“The sun’s barely risen,” Loki groans. “Stay in bed.”

“Oh, wow, this is surreal, honestly,” Thor says, “but I do have to go. The fishermen get up this early and I like to be there to see them off.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Loki says, flailing as Thor extracts himself from Loki’s limbs. “You’re ridiculous. I take it back, I liked you better when you were an irresponsible, spoiled princeling. This can’t be happening. Thor.”

Thor manages to pull himself away, hopping out of bed as Loki sits up and gives him a look of pure despair at his betrayal. 

“Go back to bed,” Thor soothes, brushing Loki’s hair away from his face and tucking the strands behind his ear. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I’ll go with you,” Loki mumbles, wrapping a hand around Thor’s wrist. 

“You sure?” Thor asks.

Loki nods, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. He's so...unguarded. It makes Thor’s heart flutter. 

“Should see what I’m to be consort of,” Loki says, even as he tucks the blanket tighter around himself and flops back onto the pillows.

\--

Eventually, Thor does get Loki out of bed with him, and the sunrise sees Thor prodding him gently along down the road to the wharf. They spend the morning doing Thor’s rounds, checking in on the artisans and laborers, inspecting the fishing boats, the children in the daycare, the seamstresses at their looms. Most of the Aesir have integrated well with Midgardian society, but there are those who prefer to keep to their little pocket of Asgard. It’s up to Thor to cater to both. 

Thor introduces Loki to Brunnhilde, who only nods warily at Loki before giving Thor a list of things that needs to be doing. Thor pockets the list and promises to get to them after lunch. 

“Glad you got back home all right,” Thor says, giving her a significant nod.

“Got a ride,” is all she says, though she give him a wink before she shoos him away. 

“I don’t think she likes me much,” Loki says.

“We were at war with Jotunheim in her time,” Thor shrugs. “She’ll warm up to you.”

Loki hums under his breath, but says nothing else.

Thor can feel Loki’s eyes on him as they make their way back to Thor’s little cottage. He’d been quiet for most of the morning, though that may just have been his apprehension at being the lone Jotun in a town full of Aesir. He’d never been like that on Asgard, though. Loki wasn’t one to be cowed by such things. 

Thor is unlocking the front door, jiggling his hand fruitlessly—the key always gets stuck, and he should talk to a locksmith about it—but Loki’s suspicious silence is getting too much.

“If you have something to say—”

Loki steps up to him and Thor is being kissed, deeply and thoroughly. Loki’s hand settles on the side of his neck, thumb brushing against his jaw. 

_Oh_ , Thor thinks, hazy pleasure suffusing through him, _so that’s what that feels like_.

“I can't believe you smell like fish, and I still need you to get me into bed and ravish me,” Loki says, breathless.

It’s just one confusing, pleasant surprise after another, with Loki. Thor is only too happy to oblige. 

As soon as he gets the door open.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Catch me on twitter @sendaraven :D


End file.
